It is understood that the workload placed on a database server can vary over time, depending on the database applications it serves and on the demands made of those applications by end users. However, users also expect applications (and hence the supporting database servers) to provide adequate results in terms of response speed, availability, and the like. Sometimes changes to a database server are considered, in order to update a version or install new features, for example. When considering server configuration changes, database administrators may seek tools and techniques which will help them assess the potential impact of the server changes on the database applications and hence on the end users' experience. In particular, database administrators sometimes capture a trace of database requests made to a current production server in order to replay those requests to an upgraded or otherwise modified server, to see how well the modified server handles that set of requests.